


solid ground

by scorpionGrass



Series: you can’t put a price on peace (of mind) [14]
Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Gen, Mideel, The Lifestream (Compilation of FFVII)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:53:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23697289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scorpionGrass/pseuds/scorpionGrass
Summary: Tifa and Cloud fall into the Lifestream. Cid and the rest wait for them to surface.
Series: you can’t put a price on peace (of mind) [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1363234
Kudos: 16





	solid ground

Maybe Cid’s just getting old. That’s what he tells himself when he’s lying in the rubble of Mideel, bones aching after trying to fight the Ultimate Weapon, only for the earth to crack open and swallow Cloud and Tifa whole. He remembers Yuffie’s scream, Vincent trying to stop her from running headfirst into the chaos after their friends.

He’s glad someone caught her. His exhaustion has caught up to him, what with everything that’s happened since Tifa decided to stay in Mideel. Retrieving the Huge Materia was a big responsibility, and he’s glad it’s over.

Not too far from him, Yuffie is crying with Vincent beside her, murmuring a stream of calming words that amount to “they’ll be okay.” But even Cid doesn’t know that. Mako poisoning is one thing, but taking a dive right into the Lifestream? Cid heaves a breath and frowns. It doesn’t look good. But all they can do is wait for their friends to surface and drag them back onto the Highwind, away from this damned town and maybe to a better doctor.

“You got a light, Vince?” Cid asks, jamming his last cigarette between his lips. “I’m dying over here.”

“You’ll die faster breathing that in,” Vincent says, but casts a fire spell anyway. Out of all of them, Vincent’s the one who wants to die the most. He gets it.

Yuffie hiccups again, tears slowly drying up as she finds her voice again. “We could have all died!” she says, curling her knees up to her chest and staring down into the fissure. The bright green of the Lifestream makes her eyes glow. “Are they really gonna be okay?”

Cid exhales smoke. “Hard to tell. I sure fucking hope so.”

He can’t take this leadership thing anymore. He’s a pilot, he knows how to run an airship; he doesn’t know how to run a group of eco-terrorists trying to save the world. Cid doubts there’s even a guide for dummies on all the therapy they’ll need when this is all over.

So he thinks about Rocket Town, about home and the sound of Shera’s whistling kettle, the smell of steeping tea. The home he never thought he’d miss so damn much.

“When they’re back,” he says finally, “let’s all grab a hard fuckin’ drink. Even you, pipsqueak.”

Yuffie gives him a watery smile. Maybe that’s the most he can ask for.


End file.
